A different venue and a different sort of ‘event’ on Day 13 of the Book Festival led me to Greyfriars Kirk and an evening of spoken word and music.
Len Pennie and Paul Leonard-Morgan premiered this collaboration at Celtic Connections earlier this year. In the acoustically transcendent Greyfriars Kirk, as the light began to fade, I can hardly think of a more atmospheric setting for the melding of Pennie’s spoken word poetry and Leonard-Morgan’s cinematic music.
There was a lot of chat and banter between the two of them. BAFTA-winning Leonard-Morgan, twice Pennie’s age, is very evidently in awe of her talent. Pennie just can’t bring herself to say anything nice about him. But there’s a twinkle in her eye as she introduces ‘I F*cking Hate You’ as one of the first pieces they recorded together. And she’s quite open about the fact that she finds it too awkward to be anything near gushy. But the face and the body language say it all. She’s as captivated by his work as he is by hers. And that makes for a divine collaboration.
The absolutely glorious icing on the top is the addition of six members of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, on violins, viola, cello and double bass. Heart-stoppingly gorgeous.
A Marriage of Scots Poetry and Cinematic Strings
The background of this collaboration is that Leonard-Morgan ‘discovered’ Pennie through her daily online ‘Scots Word of the Day’ (he’s from Glasgow, but lives in LA) and asked if he could use her poetry for a composition. Three months later and no reply, he discovered she thought he was kidding. Once convinced, the project grew into a full-blown collaboration with Pennie reading her poems whilst accompanied by Leonard-Morgan and the SCO strings.
“But the face and the body language say it all. She’s as captivated by his work as he is by hers. And that makes for a divine collaboration.”
Pennie’s poems come from a place of abuse, depression, suicidal ideation and ongoing therapy. Leonard-Morgan writes film scores, and the sweeping, beautiful melodies belie the pain of Pennie’s experience. But oh my word they are a marriage made in heaven. We can feel—and often hear—her pain, but it’s assuaged by the soaring keyboard and strings arrangements that surround her.
Pennie is impish and witty and poked fun at Leonard-Morgan all evening. He tried—and mostly failed—to defend himself and took the rise of his jet-set LA lifestyle and friendship with Philip Glass in good part. When someone online asked if he was Pennie’s husband—or father—she replied ‘both’ and he replied ‘her grandfather’. Such is their artistic kinship that you can see that it’s this closeness that allows them to give and take the ‘insults’. It may give us some insight into their working relationship too.
Whatever the chemistry, it translates into this collaboration, and it was a joy to be in the Kirk with them. Instead of this huge hallowed space, we might have been in a much more intimate space. If I closed my eyes, I could have been a friend sitting in on a rehearsal or recording; that’s how at home these two make you feel. It’s quite lovely.
‘Delusions’ at Greyfriars Kirk: From Anguish to Art
So, to the album which they’ve made of this collaboration. It’s called Delusions and features ten tracks, the last of which is a reprise of the first. They are all Pennie’s poems and Leonard-Morgan’s compositions, and the album was played in full tonight.
During the interval—which they said previously audiences had seemed reluctant to take, as there was more poetry and more music, not from the album—no wonder no one wanted to miss it. However, there then was a break—for comfort, to buy raffle tickets (to raise funds for a cause very close to Pennie’s heart, the Moira Anderson Foundation) and generally to have a chinwag if you could get anywhere near.
What a beautiful, uplifting, life-affirming evening. To see and hear the amazing story of Pennie’s thriving—not just surviving—is magical, though I don’t make light of how hard that has been and continues to be. I hope this collaboration will be life-affirming for her too. From dreadful anguish has come the most beautiful creation. You can hear it online. And I defy you not to want to buy it for yourself. And regret you were not in Greyfriars Kirk tonight.
All Images: PLM Delusions Premiere
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